By: Leif Bromme
At Southern Adventist University, Friday nights are marked by vespers- a service of praise, worship and recentering, that helps to set Sabbath apart from the rest of the week. There is a more mundane tradition, however, that marks Friday nights.
As students flow into the Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists sanctuary, they are met with the flash of green lights as they register worship credits.
These scanners are found outside other events like convocation and evensong. At first glance, the credit system might seem like an unnatural way to force students into participation. A closer look reveals a necessary system – one that both maintains campus vitality and strengthens students’ spiritual lives.
Credit systems are not exclusive to Southern. At Union Adventist University, for example, students are required to either attend a certain number of worship programs or participate in a spiritual mentorship program called HeartScan. At Andrews Adventist University, students are required to obtain a total of 30 co-curricular credits, twelve of which are to be from chapels/forums and six from residence hall events. In the same way that most classes require lecture attendance, these universities require event participation.
Viewing Southern as a social organization, not just a school, helps reframe credits in a more logical way. Without convocations, vespers, life groups and other events that bind the campus together, it would be easy for the campus to feel hollow. Activities among friends, class groups and smaller clubs are important, but they don’t generally provide the connective effect that school-wide programs offer.
Joshua Chobotar, a sophomore health science major, views the worship credit system with some nuance.
“I think it’s a little bit much,” said Chobotar. “It could be a little more lenient. But honestly, as long as you go to convocation most every week and vespers every week, which I already would do — at least vespers I would do without credits — you’re fine.”
One argument against the system concerns vespers itself. Due to the personal nature of spirituality, one could argue that tying attendance of religious events to a credit system defeats the purpose of the experience. Like assigning prayer as homework or taking attendance at church, the requirement could make events intended to uplift feel like a chore. While it is important for students to handle their own spiritual lives, there are caveats to the system.
Firstly, vespers and other religious events are not required for credit. While they can provide many points quickly, there are other options that allow non-religious students to accrue points, making Southern’s credit system comparatively flexible to the previously mentioned Adventist institutions.
Sometimes habits also need to be reinforced. As students at an Adventist Institution, we are expected to exhibit behaviors that are both beneficial for us and for our communities. Being encouraged to attend vespers does not cheapen or remove the personal choice to do so – it simply helps reinforce the ritual of faith that many already prioritize.
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis spoke to this phenomenon.
“Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”
While Lewis was referring to personal relationships rather than event attendance, he raised a strong point about habits. While they can begin as an obligation, they can transform into truth.
Rather than having a specific issue with vespers, some may argue that the system in general creates an undue scheduling burden for students. Some don’t have the luxury to attend convocations or other events between school and work. Perhaps to remedy this situation, the system can be expanded to include other activities like intramurals or Student Association events that also contribute to campus vitality.
The existing system of reducing credit requirements based on seniority is also a step in the right direction.
Daniel Llangovan, a senior engineering major, commented on this issue.
“As a commuter student, I just go to vespers on Friday and a few other events,” Llangovan said. “Seniors are only required to get 30 credits. That’s about it.”
With some small adjustments alongside the existing program, the credit system can function even for overbooked upperclassmen.
Overall, minor disagreements about credits tend to miss the central issue. As members of a college community – a Christian college community – we should be engaging as a student body anyway. We should be sharing our time and supporting both school-wide and departmental events like concerts and presentations. The worship credit system simply reinforces those habits. It helps to ensure that the campus is more than just the land on which our classes meet.
It helps to hold us spiritually accountable, even on days when it doesn’t feel like the easiest thing to do. After all, college should be more than a place where we attend classes. It should be a community we choose to be part of, even when choosing takes a little encouragement.
